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senholto's review against another edition
4.0
The book is well written which discusses the work of scientists from the late 1880's right up until the 1960's. Reading it, you notice two names that seem to appear often that curtailed scientific advancement in Russia -Trofim Lysenko and Josef Stalin, who prevented the advancement of the agricultural and genetic sciences in particular. Could you imagine how far advance the sciences in Russia could have been had these two not had such power. Excellent book that discusses the various nuances of the Soviet Sciences.
bleary's review against another edition
5.0
Really the story of Trofim Lysenko, a Rasputin type who dominated early Soviet science with a tangle of lies and manipulation. It's a fascinating story with plenty to chew on regarding the dangers of groupthink and utopianism.
mluckey's review against another edition
3.0
This is a wonderful primer on the history of soviet scientists. I found it hard to keep track of all the scientists, given how the book was structured. That said, I liked that the book is divided into sections based on the genre of science and the time period.
anlekaha's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this book gave me a great appreciation for the quality of life that I take for granted. It is amazing to me that Russian scientists were able to accomplish anything when they were starving, using stolen equipment, and often executed for results that didn't fit the political narrative. It was a little hard to keep track of the many names of all the people involved and the writing was dense at times but I kept fighting through it because the subject matter was so interesting.
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